Mace to challenge Sen. Lindsey Graham

Nancy Mace was the first female to graduate as a cadet from The Citadel. But she did a little more than that. She graduated as magna cum laude and also as regimental commander of the Corps of Cadets the highest rank possible.

Clearly, she relishes a challenge; and she has certainly taken on a formidable one in recent weeks. Mace was in Anderson Monday as part of her campaign for the Republican nomination for the United States Senate seat currently held by Sen. Lindsey Graham.

Mace is the daughter of a retired general, and was born on Ft. Bragg in Fayettevile, growing up as an Army brat. As she told the crowd, while reeling off a long list of relatives to support her claim, “In my family, you are either in the military or married to it.” Mace. Thirty five, is the mother of two and the owner of The Mace Group, a media consultant business.

She wasted little time making her claim as a Reagan Republican. “He was a hero. He was always optimistic and resolute, and he instilled a pride in this country that we are sadly lacking today. Both our friends and enemies respected him because they knew where he and the nation stood.” She cited Reagan’s statement that freedom is never more than a generation from being lost, adding that those words are truer today than ever before.

“This election is not just about Lindsey Graham. It is about the systematic failure of our government. Washington thinks they know what is better for us than we do. To realize how out of touch our Senator is, think about this. In the last sixty years, only two men have held that Senate seat. Strom Thurmond and Lindsey Graham are the only two.”

Mace also lamented the infighting in the Republican party, but added that the one common strain among them is the adherence to the U.S. Constitution. “That is how we set our course and that course needs to lead to winning the Senate in 2014, as prelude to taking back the White House in 2016. I truly believe that if we endure two more terms of a Democratic president, especially someone like Hillary Clinton, we will lose our nation as we know it.”

She said Sen. Graham’s policies are wrong for the state and the nation, and stressed that her first priority is “stopping Obamacare in its tracks. That has to come first/ America cannot flourish under such a weight.”

She assured the audience of about 85 people that her perspective on such matters, as well as others, is that of a small business owner. “The government needs to get out of the way and let small business do what it does best and that is to create jobs. Just get out of the way and America’s economy will come back.” She also staked out positions as pro-life, and in favor of the traditional view of marriage. “I do not favor gay marriage and I believe that life begins at conception. I will stand up for those beliefs just as I stood up for my beliefs while at The Citadel.”

Mace also stressed that the Republicans need to do a better job of getting their message out. “It is the Democrats fault that the government is shut down. They refuse to consider anything but their own plans.”